The Daily Five: 5 Games to Avoid This Year

Every year, games are released surrounded by a media blitz designed to get the game in your face and ready for consumption. These teaser trailers and preview events are created with the sole purpose of getting you to buy a specific game because you think it’s going to live up to that hype or its predecessors. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that some of these games aren’t worth the $60 you spend on them.

Though we like to think we can predict the future and that hindsight is for the birds, we think we can make some pretty safe predictions about some upcoming games that are going to leave more disappointed than satisfied. These games have a history of either delivering or meeting gamer standards, but we think these are going to be a total time waste and you would be better off putting your money into other areas of the industry — like on Watch Dogs, The Last of Us and other titles guaranteed to deliver.

Dead Island: Riptide
The original Dead Island felt like a niche title, yet touched on a phenomenon that’s been sweeping the industry as of late — zombies. Unfortunately, it feels like we’re all getting a little worn out on being tasked with taking out horde after horde of the undead. Yes, these aren’t exactly the zombies you’re looking for, but let’s be real here, Dead Island is definitely trying to feed off of that genre.

Sadly, Dead Island didn’t meet expectations and despite Deep Silver releasing its latest trailer to market Dead Island: Riptide to the masses, we think it’s going to be met with similar gamer disappointment. This is definitely an avoid title and we’re calling it now.

Lost Planet 3
There are going to be a ton of people trying to hype up Lost Planet 3 after the disaster that was Lost Planet 2, but don’t fall for it. Consistency is something all developers strive for, but they’re usually striving for positive consistency, not this. If you’re expecting Lost Planet 3 to deliver where the previous two titles failed, you may be a little bit insane.

It’s very likely that Lost Planet 3 is going to disappointment, so you’re going to want to wait for this to at least hit the bargain bin before you throw your money down. Don’t worry though, you should only have to wait a couple of weeks or a month tops.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
Honestly, Assassin’s Creed and Assassin’s Creed 2 were great games. The platforming and combat were fun, the plot was intriguing enough to keep you interested and it felt like Ubisoft was going in an awesome direction with this franchise. Then, someone went bat-shit crazy and this franchise took a deep nose dive into mediocrity. Now, they’re talking about Call of Duty-ing this series into the depths of hell until we ask them to stop. So we are. STOP.

Assassin’s Creed 3 was critically well received, but anyone who actually picked it up with their hard earned money is going to tell you that this game wasn’t really deserving of the praise it received. A lot of the game was dull, didn’t meet previous standards, and included segments that were just worthy of an ultimate rage quit. Do yourself a favor and pass on this next one.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
My first question would be: Who the hell asked for her to come back? Nobody wanted Lightning to return. Hell, nobody wanted to try and find her in Final Fantasy XIII-2. If we’re keeping it real like we should be doing, we’d be voting with our wallets and pushing Square Enix to stop releasing this trash and start focusing on bringing us the Final Fantasy titles we’ve been asking for: Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy VII fully redeveloped to meet next generation standards.

Square has made great strides with publishing an awesome improvement in the Tomb Raider franchise and Hitman: Absolution wasn’t bad, but this rinse and repeat going on with Final Fantasy XIII needs to stop already.

Wii Fit U
Remember that time you overpaid for the Wii because your friends had one and loved Wii Sports, and then the same thing happened for Wii Fit? That’s because you bought into the hype and ended up with a dust collector to rival the early days of the PlayStation 3. The only difference is, the Wii continued to build up dust while the PS3 became a usable product. If you fell into this situation last generation, don’t go out and waste your money on Wii Fit U. You’re just asking to be slapped around a bit at this point.

Instead, support third-party developers that are trying to make the Wii U an acceptable platform for gaming. Don’t leave these guys hanging. If you want your Wii U experience to improve, not get worse, avoid garbage like this and support developers trying to actually help you justify your purchase.

Drugs. Alcohol. Violence. Debauchery. I have taken part in none of these things. Sadly, one day I saw something secretive being developed by a major studio that I probably shouldn't have seen. They've been trying to silence me ever since. Now, I'm here with the lot of you. Hiding. Staying safe inside the box that I call home. One day I'll fight back. Until then, I'll deliver news to you guys.

dakan45

“If you’re expecting Lost Planet 3 to deliver where the previous two titles failed, you may be a little bit insane.”

Really? diffirent developers, emphasis on story and survival,fps view on mechs, doesnt seem like the previous to me at all

SolidSnake

Asking Assassin’s creed to stop is really stupid. AC3 had the biggest innovation. And AC4 looks like it’s gonna be basically red dead redemption pirate themed and assassins. If it was called red dead pirates you would like it. Assassin’s creed games should keep coming as long as they are decent games. btw money they get from AC is what makes games like WatchDogs . Skipping Dead island is also stupid, unless you have no friends to play with. The moment we finished dead island we wanted more.

http://www.facebook.com/MisterGrux Nicklas Eli Sørensen

Sure AC3 had the biggest innovation, but did you actually play it compared to AC1 and AC2? ever since AC2 the AC series went downhill slowly. AC3 wasn’t a bad game, but lets face it, the ending was a big ME3′ish and it didn’t feel as open and smooth as AC1 and AC2 did. It wasn’t worth 60$ and it wasn’t worth a 10/10, on consoles atleast, I counted over 23 different glitches and errors that just ruined the smooth gameplay. And your argument for buying games, so the companies can make more and better games? that is absolutely stupid.

Solid Snake

I understand AC3 had a lot of bugs and it wasn’t smooth. That’s because i was much bigger than AC2 and AC1. I think it is worth more than AC2 and Ac1., It has much more content than both combined, and that’s just the single player. I didn’t play AC3 on launch so I didn’t experience any gamebreaking/ hard bugs or glitches. It was smooth for me.Plus AC4 ill be getting it on ps4, so it should be really smoothy. “AC3 wasn’t a bad game, but lets face it, the ending” So you jeopardize the whole game, no wait the whole franchise telling to stop just for the ending of ac3 ,which was not bad, at all.
“that is absolutely stupid.” No that is not stupid AT ALL. That’s how it works. Titles like WatchDogs is massive risk and massiv money put in it. Money that comes from Assassin’s creed is used to invest in these risky and costly projects.

http://www.facebook.com/laurence.smith.315 LEGIT _ELITE

How was it not worth $60? a solid ( opinion may differ) 20 + hour campaign, TONS of side content, and a Multiplayer that will last you hundreds of hours. How is that not worth $60?

http://www.facebook.com/C63XeroCore Shubhendu Singh

You must be crazy thinking its okay to milk one franchise to feed the other Projects. Assassins Creed was destined to be a legendary game and no one would have seen THIS coming when they played 1 & 2.
AC3 was so horrible that it actually makes me numb, even if they are innovating it (im not saying it, yur sayin it), that innovation suxx. Game had a game-breaking bug everywhere, Troops with insane vision, Stealth Game “WITHOUT A CROUCH FEATURE”?? and boring to hell Side Missions and well sorta Main Story too.
The only thing that is making me play AC4 is ofcoz Story and Naval Combats which was just awesome in AC3. Hope they will get this shit straight, and actually waits for a year n half before releasing another title. Fast releases has killed the series more than its hectic gameplay.

http://www.facebook.com/lucas.lowman Lucas Lowman

AC has been a yearly title since 2.

Lucia Malpense

I played AC3 before any of the other AC games, and I have to say that I preferred AC3.

Except for the naval missions. I hated the naval missions. I’m not getting AC4 because of the inevitable naval missions, not because I think that the franchise’s going down.

Dakan45

innovation? really? that lackster unpolished game had innovation?

http://www.facebook.com/s3di.Oo Sǯdi Sǻymeh

i don’t think AC4 will suck … AC3 sucked because they used a new engine an really d when dev’s uses new engine there will be glitches and errors like BF3 was so AC4 won’t have those glitches and the graphics from the trailer is damn good

and about lightning returns no body will hate it cause the graphics are awesome and ive seen the gameplay its really good its like xiii-versus but multi-platform so deal with it

chris123

I don’t know but my wii never colected dust.
I played a lot of games.

http://www.facebook.com/laurence.smith.315 LEGIT _ELITE

I suppose they were mostly JRPG’s? cuz there really wasn’t much to play that was really good

chris123

I always listen the same thing over and over again. People say the Wii doesn’t have games. Maybe it have games, but you prefer playing other games in anothers consoles?
Here is a list of Wii games I have played in the last six years:
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy 2
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Metroid: Other M
Xenoblade Chronicles
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
Rayman Origins
Okami
Kirby’s Epic Yarn
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land
New Super Mario Bros Wii
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Tatsunoku vs Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes
Tatsunoku vs Capcom: Ultimate All Stars
Punch Out!
Sin and Punishment: Star Succesor
Super Paper Mario
Monster Hunter Tri
No More Heroes
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Golden Eye 007
Mad World
Bully: Scholarship Edition
Wii Sports
Wii Sports Resorts
Mario Kart Wii
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
A boy and his blob
Lego Batman 2: Superheroes
de Blob
de Blob 2
Klonoa
The House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return
The House of the Dead: Overkill
Red Steel
Red Steel 2
NBA Jam
Mario Strikers Charged
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing
The Last Story
Project Zero 2
Sonic Colors
The Godfather: Blackhand Edition
Scarface: The World is Yours
Mario Party 8
Mario Party 9
Toy Story 3
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
Animal Crossing: City Folk
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Disney: Epic Mickey
The Conduit
The Conduit 2
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Sonic Unleashed
Lost in Shadow
Secret Files: Tunguska
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Beares
Mystery Case Files: The Malgravent Incident
WWE All Stars
Driver San Francisco
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Manhunt 2
Need for Speed Nitro
Harvest Moon: Animal Parade

Unknown Fox

So you averaged 2 games a year and you feel that is something that is acceptable?

chris123

Maybe I have a live? And the list consist over 70 titles. More than a 11 games a year. So I think is pretty good.

Unknown Fox

Oh, sorry Chris. I didn’t see the “See more” option on Disqus and only saw 13 titles listed.

chris123

no problem man, i just wanted to say that there is games, but some people don’t like the games on the console and is fine. I have a ps3 also and i love it. Yes, I admit that there is more games on ps3, and maybe better exclusives, but in my opinion is wrong to say that the wii doesn’t have games, maybe doesn’t have games that some people like it. I think is a matter of preferences. Thanks for take the moment to read the post.

http://www.facebook.com/laurence.smith.315 LEGIT _ELITE

ummm unless the Wii was your only console, other platforms had better versions of ALMOST every single one of those 3rd party. The Wii had games but nothing that would make want to buy a Wii even the great exclusives.

Delta

Agree with everything but lost planet and riptide Dead island ya fell short from expectations but it was fun and I would still like to continue the mediocre story Also lost planet 2 was not that bad Of course the rtarded split screen and the multiplayer where bad but it was fun to fight big bosses

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Moore/100000051103641 Ryan Moore

I liked AC3, and Edward Kenway seems to have a good arc; he starts out as a selfish dick, but becomes more selfless. Conner did have some character development in that he realized that things weren’t always so black and white, and he did display more maturity at the end

http://www.facebook.com/laurence.smith.315 LEGIT _ELITE

I thought the opposite in the beginning it was all about saving his village and people towards the middle it turned into a vendetta mission to get the guy that killed his people and then the end he turned back to the assasins mission and saving his village from George Washington

lolzz, it actually a good question. But none the less i will be playing them anyway.
It just kinda thing you do and hate afterwards. Such a vicious cycle.

http://www.facebook.com/graham.field.35 Graham Field

“Assassin’s Creed 3 was critically well received, but anyone who actually picked it up with their hard earned money is going to tell you that this game wasn’t really deserving of the praise it received”
Bold Statement, I thought the game was the best in the series so far.

http://www.facebook.com/laurence.smith.315 LEGIT _ELITE

I definitely thought it to be as good if not better than Ac2

http://www.facebook.com/C63XeroCore Shubhendu Singh

Far from Best.
The truth is, AC franchise needs to be Easy. Yes, thats the truth.
Combats should be a little hard, but detection level must downrite be dumb. AC games doesnt feels like empowering anymore, just almost everywhere i am being yelled by yellow triangles. Thats not fun, i am not a bad gamer but enemy vision must be a lil easy. Its realistic, but not fun, so whats the point.

Dakan45

why? because it took most of the things the series achieved over the years and threw them away? Or because it was a buggy and unpolished mess? Second worse to the first one.

Justin

HAHAHA Someone obviously hasn’t had the chance to get any hands on with Riptide and is calling is a game to avoid this year. What a poor sap you truly are and calling yourself a games journalist I know plenty of journalists that have gotten hands on myself included and Riptide is going to be a great multiplayer experience. It improves over Dead Island in every way.

Velox

Anyone want to hedge bets on if “Justin” here comes back to let everyone know he was wrong? Review scores are showing this is a game you SHOULD avoid this year. Thanks Justin.

http://www.facebook.com/spencer.olsen Spencer Olsen

FYI Lost planet 3 is being helmed by a completely different company than the one that did the 1st and 2nd, so it’s probably going to have a better more fresh feel to it. As for Assassins Creed; c’mon dude, really? that game has only been getting better I mean did you play the ‘ship commanding’ segments? that was some of the most fun I’ve had in years. Not a great article, very biased. BTW Wii and FF: Lightning returns do suck so you’re 2/5.

http://twitter.com/Gingergreek Pani B

Agreed. Assassins creed 3 was bloody awful!

hobbes21

I enjoyed Dead Island but don’t need any more of series.
Agreed about the rest of the list.

http://twitter.com/AceOfCakez Ace

Wow. I agree with all of this. It’s good to see some little people speaking out against publications.

http://twitter.com/SweepsNDeals Deals & Sweepstakes

I loved Dead Island. One of my favorite Zombie games. Not to be critical, but have you played any of these games or is this just calling out some big names as bogus to get attention via controversy like IGN does daily on my Facebook page? Maybe it’s just random predictions. I’d personally rather see new content than re-releases like FF7 as much as I enjoyed it the first time.

bignasty27

i am genuinely interested to see a list of your games to watch this year, so i can confirm my suspicions of your idiocy. also how bad do you have to be at video games to rage quit during an assassins creed game?